


no witnesses

by grandmas_ghost (nap_princess)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Bad Ending, Character Death, Death, Gen, I wrote this fic for me but y'all can read it if you want, Lisanna my Queen, Modern AU, nali brotp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 13:39:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14853818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nap_princess/pseuds/grandmas_ghost
Summary: "You're my best friend." He says / "Not forever."– Nali BROTP, bittersweet modern AU, Natsu-centric





	no witnesses

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Lourve](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/387497) by Lorde. 
  * Inspired by [A World Alone](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/387504) by Lorde. 



** no witnesses**

* * *

 Blow all my friendships to sit in hell with you,  
But we're the greatest,  
They'll hang us in the Louvre,  
Down the back, but who cares, still the Louvre.

– **Lorde** , _The Louvre_

...

You're my best friend and we're dancing in a world alone,  
We're alone,  
We're all alone.

– **Lorde** , _A World Alone_

* * *

 

* * *

 They're drunk, eighteen and he has his head cradled in her arms. Music's playing from his phone, it's late at night. They ignore the movie hooked up to the TV. They've managed to hold their deepest conversations sitting in this room. They've known each other since diapers and in a couple of months, they'll be ready to go off to college.

"Sing for me!" Natsu hollers, pumping a fist in the air.

Lisanna snorts. She's been in theatre and musicals for so long that singing is basically part of her soul. She'd thought Natsu would have gotten tired of her voice by now.

"Sing!" He repeats.

Lisanna listens to the cue of the music. It's a slow ploppy song for such an occasion but it will do. She opens her mouth and sings.

He feels every vibration, every crack in her voice, every deep intake as she sings the lyrics. He hears her heartbeat as the minutes go by. And when she's done, he gives her an outstanding applause. He laughs, and she feels the strength of his joy against her chest.

He says to her with the dumbest lopsided smile on earth, "You're my best friend."

"And you're mine." She says.

* * *

"I win!" Lisanna declares, corn-flower blue eyes shining with triumph.

Elfman groans as he finally goes bankrupt, demolishing his set of houses on the board game to signify death, while Mirajane lets out an amused laugh. _Monopoly_ is where you learn how to crush your enemies. That and _UNO_.

"Heck yeah!" Natsu chimes for his best friend then grabs the stack of fake _Monopoly_ money from the neatly sorted bank. His smile grows wider as he starts to make it rain above Lisanna's head like she was in a bitchin' music video.

Mirajane could barely control her laughter as she watches Natsu celebrate her little sister's victory and Lisanna happily dancing from her cross-legged position. A smile touches her lips, Mirajane hopes their fun never dies.

* * *

"Salamander, I dare you to lick the swing set." Gajeel Redfox says as they occupied the empty playground. The heat is strong enough to send the stubbornest child away.

"What's in it for me?" Natsu asks, eyeing his best friend for a second opinion.

Gajeel elbows Gray Fullbuster in return and the dark haired boy merely sighs.

Gray pulls out his wallet and counts the spare change in it. Gray says, "Two hundred jewels and three mints."

"I'm going to make out with it!" Natsu declares, making the group laugh.

Lucy Heartfilia's the only one who crinkles her nose in disgust. "Gross, Natsu, don't."

"I agree with Lucy." Lisanna voices, backing up the blonde. "We all know Gray doesn't have that kinda money. His pockets are only big enough to hold a couple of condoms and a few dreams and that's about it."

This time, Natsu's the one laughing hard. So hard that he falls out of his seat and rolls on the ground. Gray sends Lisanna a glare in return and Natsu swears he almost peed himself that day.

* * *

"Natsu, can you not hang out here next Tuesday?" Mirajane asks one day. It's hot, the open bag of chips and lemonade laid untouched on the coffee table.

"Why?" Natsu asks, lifting his head from the pillow on the living room couch.

"We need to pack for our family vacation." Mirajane says, reminding the boy. "I don't want you wreaking havoc. The house is going to look like dooms-day itself without your help."

"I thought our family vacation was in June." Lisanna voices, equally as confused as Natsu. She's been browsing social media for the past twenty minutes. Both Lisanna and Natsu have been, actually. So comfortable with each other to the point where silence doesn't bother them.

"It's June next week." Mirajane tells her sister, rolling her blue eyes.

Natsu gaps. "Lis!"

"I forgot!" Lisanna defends herself.

Mirajane shakes her head in reply before saying to Natsu, "Don't worry, Lisanna's only going away for a little while. She'll be back before you know it."

* * *

"It's going to be _so_ boring without you," Natsu groans, dragging his feet as they walk to the park. They've just sent a group message to meet up with the others and it's not like anyone's doing anything.

"You have the gang to hang out with. You won't die from boredom." Lisanna quips, giving him a smile as she looks behind the shoulder. "Plus, I bet by the time I get back, you and Lucy will be a thing."

"What?!" Natsu sputters, his face as pink as his hair.

"Oh, _come on_." Lisanna teases, now slowing down her walking pace to poke Natsu on the shoulder. She's purposely being annoying just to get under his skin. "It's obvious you two like each other. You squabble all the time but deep down, and I mean, deeeppp down, you know you have a crush on her."

"You're _so_ wrong." He tells her, burying his hands in his hoodie pockets, ducking his head.

"No, I'm not." Lisanna says back. "I know I'm right. I have great sixth sense."

Natsu only grumbles in return. He can't really argue with her. Not when she knows **every** way to counter his words. Sometimes, that's the only disadvantage that came when disagreeing with his best friend.

* * *

"What's the most depressing thing you've ever heard?" She asks, eyes staring straight at the sky up above. Stars sprinkle the night sky and twinkle like the nursery rhyme.

He blinks, arms stretched behind his head. "What the fuck?" He asks. Where is this coming from?

She tells him, "I've read in the news once, an article on this kid. He committed suicide and his parents cremated him –"

He holds his breath, waiting for the final blow.

"– only to find his suicide note. The reason he took his own life was because he wanted to donate his organs to a family member who needed it. And now that his body is nothing but ashes, it just seemed like his effort was wasted."

Air whooshes out of his lungs. He doesn't know what to say. But he ends up asking, "Why are you telling me this?"

She turns to him, blue eyes filled with _something_ , "I dunno. I suddenly had an urge to tell it to you."

He asks, "Why am I friends with you?"

* * *

"Lisanna, did you bring your jacket?" Mrs Strauss calls as she pushes suitcases into the trunk. It's the day they're leaving for their family vacation.

Natsu's over, helping them pack last minute things and drag overpacked suitcases. Mr Strauss, Mirajane and Elfman yell at each other from the inside of the house, asking where things are and if they've forgot to bring anything.

The sun beats down on Natsu's back. Why is he wearing a hoodie again?

"It's Summer." Lisanna says to her mother, turning away from Natsu for a moment. "There's no need for this old thing." For dramatic effect, she tosses the article of cloth at Natsu.

He almost drops it from how unexpected her action was. "Hey!" Natsu counters.

"Keep it, you'll thank me later." Lisanna jokes like she's some famous person handing out charity to the unfortunate.

Natsu sends the white haired girl a funny look and she responses by sticking her tongue out at him. He says to her, "You're weird, you know that?"

"Yeah, but you accepted this when you became my best friend so deal with it." Lisanna replies.

…

The last thing he remembers about her is waving. Waving at each other as she drives away from him. The scene of her turning around in the backseat, hollering and smiling. If only he had known that would be the last casual day he'd had spent with his best friend.

* * *

Natsu swears Gajeel is laughing like _Mandark_ from _Dexter's Laboratory._ The group is watching an old timey horror movie. It's horribly cheesy and predictable. And truth be told, Natsu will admit, not as fun since Lisanna had left.

The worse part of this Summer is that he can't reach her. Being on the road had given her terrible cell signal.

"Do you miss Lisanna?" Lucy asks, turning to Natsu.

They're sharing a blanket, Gajeel is crackling like a banshee and the popcorn bowl sits on Gray's lap, almost empty. Natsu only raises a pink eyebrow in return. What a silly question. Of course, he does. Maybe Lucy's afraid she's not as lively? Since she's the only girl in the group or something. Insecurities sprout sometimes.

"Duh." Natsu answers, shifting in his seat now. "Just like how you miss Levy."

Lucy sighs, brown eyes dragging back to the black and white screen. "I wished she didn't go to Summer camp."

"You still send each other hand-written letters and postcards, right?" Natsu asks, hand now on his cheek.

"Yeah,"

"I wish I could do that."

This time, Lucy raises a brow. "Didn't you ask Lisanna where she was going?"

"No," Natsu admits. "I forgot to."

.

.

.

Just as Lisanna predicted, Lucy ends up asking Natsu on a date to the movies two days later. 

* * *

"She's gone." Mirajane says into the phone one day. Wednesday – or was it a Thursday? Summer's never the time to count down the days. It's half past noon.

"What?" Natsu asks, not daring to break down. "What do you mean?"

"It's my fault." Mirajane says, now crying. "It's all my fault. I wanted to take a picture of her, I told her to stand back a little. I didn't think much of it then the ground crumbled. She fell and – Lisanna – She's –"

Natsu hears Mirajane break down. He can't stand it.

"She passed away. I'm so sorry."

Natsu feels himself shake, a churn in his stomach. "You told me it was supposed to be a family vacation. It was supposed to be fun. This is not – This isn't –"

He can't finish his words, feeling tears sting his eyes.

He hiccups, "You told me Lisanna was only going to be gone for a little while. Not forever."

"I'm sorry, Natsu. I really am."

* * *

He grips onto the last thing his best friend gave him before she left.

Lucy places a hand onto his shoulder, but he can't really say he feels anything now. Not the pressure of his crush's hand or the soft words being spoken at the funeral or the sky crying along with him.

The hot pink jacket stands out among the sea of black clothing.

Actually, it's too hot for him to even wear such a stuffy suit. It's still Summer, after all. He wishes he could just yank this suffocating tie away from his neck. He feels like he's being strangled. He feels …

His grip tightens. Now he knows why.

* * *

  **end**

**Author's Note:**

> It's my birthday and I'm spending an hour of it writing Nali BROTP. I think my love for Nali BROTP is as strong as Nalu shipper's love.
> 
> – 12 March 2018


End file.
